Kinect has an infrared-light projector and two webcam-like cameras — infrared and RGB — with autofocus. The infrared camera detects depth by picking up the infrared light that is projected into a user’s room.

There are four downward-facing microphones mounted along the length of Kinect.

The tilting motor and its gears are appropriately small.

The workhorse, as we know, is the PrimeSense PS1080-A1 image sensor and processor. Microsoft recently acquired a competing firm, Canesta. Will future Kinects have chips from Canesta instead of PrimeSense?

Kinect gets 12 watts of power from the Xbox 360 through a USB-like cord, though standard USB ports provide just 2.5 watts.

iFixit gave Kinect a repairability score of 6 out of 10, noting: “Without a service manual, repair will be quite a challenge. Microsoft has not made a service manual available. If we get enough demand, we’ll do their work for them and publish one.”

Check out iFixit’s step-by-step teardown here. Oh, and for reference, here’s a “before” photo of Kinect.